Exposure to Antisemitism and Offensive Humour #becauseoffacebook

From Handsworth through Africa and back to the Middle East

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege to take part in a media research group meeting at Birmingham City University. Part of the meeting consisted of a presentation by Kieran Connell from Birmingham Uni about his 'micro history' of black Handsworth in the 1980s. The relationship between an imagined notion of Africa and its influence on the young people from Caribbean backgrounds in Handsworth has made me contemplate my own interest in the Jewish diaspora and its relationship with Israeli politics. In particular the idea that diaspora communities relationship with their countries of origin is often based on imagined notions. The Jewish diaspora's attempt to influence Israeli politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict may be based around false notions. This may be due to the complexity and differences in the context of the Jewish society in Israel, in the midst of the Middle East, and the Jewish society in other Western countries. Other than that, Israelis' notion of the Jewish diaspora might be based on similar notion of an imagined Jewish nation. Israelis expectation of complete synergy between the young state and other left leaning European diaspora communities often result in conflicts voiced in the Israeli media and various social networks. What's more interesting is that the perceived notion of each community changes according to its global location i.e. Liberal = Europe & Conservative = US ?  

The Social Network Rules

Things are moving too fast. That is my revelation post watching The Social Network. This film is about events taken place in the last 6 years. The protagonists are still in their mid 20's. On the other hand, yes they represent a phenomenon. In the film, Zukerberg rejects his partner's idea to add advertisements to the newly launched facebook, claiming that 'we don't know what it is yet and we need to keep it cool'. That is a valid point. Six years on, the non-intrusive slick advertisements are there, but do we really know what it is yet? or where it will be in ten years time? (see theGlob.com) facebook's growing popularity at the time coincided with the growth of broadband Internet connection use. So successful innovations often link to other innovations. They have to be linked to the spirit of the time (so Kevin Spacey exec producer and Trent Reznor in charge of sound huh?) Coming out of the cinema I thought how great it would be to be an entrepreneur. To come up with a brilliant idea and become a billionaire. But after thinking about it, the moral of the story is you don't necessarily need a good idea. You have to adopt a good idea and run with it. You need a team, vision, cash, and you need clients. Simple? Obvious? oh and you have to have a niche, because of course, even facebook started as a niche service. The Social Network works brilliantly as a story. It's current, familiar, dramatic and funny. I wonder what we will think after revisiting the film in 2020.

Halftime Branding

In the last couple of days I was thinking about the prospect of interviews at half time during football matches. Everyone who watches NBA Basketball games is used to seeing stars and managers justifying their first half performance while sharing their feelings with a passion still burning from the game. Imagine Jose Mourinho pearls at half time, Imagine Wayne Rooney sharing his emotions with the audience at half time (maybe with a minute delay for strong language editing). Football is a show; it should be fully open to the media.

As audiences, we don’t want to hear the same old boring clichés before the game or after the game. We want to see passion, we want to hear the truth about our team’s performance, and we want them to tell us why we should watch the second half, especially if we are fans and our team is trailing 0-4 at half time. It’s all about accountability and entertainment. Half time interviews would also make it more difficult for managers to play defensively or too tactically for the sake of it because they will more open to scrutiny of commentators, fans, and their own players. 

This is all part of the game’s branding. David Stern, the almighty commissioner of the NBA has realised it 30 years ago, and UEFA/FIFA are slowly trailing behind. Conservatism does not win new audiences, and it will not maintain current rating. Similarly, the objection to goal line technology and other means of assisting referees is ridiculous. In spite of not having data to back me up, I would say 90% of football audience worldwide is disappointed with the brand. Innovation in the form of new technologies, greater openness and access to all aspects and phases of the game is paramount to the future of the sport.     

IBC2010

At the beginning of the week I returned from Amsterdam where I had visited the IBC2010 electronic media exhibition. As a first time visitor I was amazed by the sheer size of the event, and the technologies that were presented were not less impressive.  The exhibition ranges from Production to post production, media delivery to experience, connectivity and more. The one thing that unified most of the area in the exhibition was 3D. It’s officially everywhere. TVs, cameras, and content interaction using a 3D interface (Squeed). In spite of having the chance to film and watch myself on a 3D screen I have to admit that after the 2^nd day my eyes couldn’t take it. I think the future of this rediscovered prospect depends on:  A. Not having to use glasses. B. Not having to take aspirin every time you want to watch TV. Other than that it’s all pretty impressive. Although the nicest set for me was a 152 Inch 4K Professional Plasma Display, sharp as can be.

The focus on on-demand user experiences has been coming for a while now with us fragmenting and all, and the additions here were all about pushing TV onto the Internet. Don’t let anyone fool you – it’s all about client IP. Being able to watch a film on TV retrieve information online and recommend on facebook all at the same time (Orca Interactive) is just one example. On the production side, the trend is efficiency. Content management, content workflow is in the centre of the exhibition for the big players to save money. ITV could potentially save by managing their content using advanced software in a way that distributed news and adverts to different local audiences.  To sum up, on the promotional side between the high-tech stands and the freebees, Irdeto’s slogan “What’s your media 3.0 strategy?” seemed to have hit the spot as the company offers a model that allows sharing of new media functions through pay TV. It just shows you can’t yet replace a good copywriter.    

Quote of the Day

My quote of the day comes from Eric Pickles, the Comms & Local Government Secretary:

Recent Events and Updates

After a while of not posting I felt it was time to share:
 
Last week, when the sun was out, I went to see some folk ensembles at the Cross in Moseley, and indeed I saw about 30-40 people on one small stage playing lovely folk tunes, it was loud! Here's what it looked like:

 I also went to check Filmrats for the first time. They celebrates their 1st birthday with a lovely night at the Sunflower Lounge with some beautiful cupcakes. I was extremely impressed by a funny short film called Backwards. Other than that good music included The Great Boat Salvage (reminded me of Redbird meets Shearwood), James Rea (pictured- impressively confident and funny) and Tom Peel (which I unfotunatelly missed)
 
 
 One last thing, last bank holiday weekend I was recording a podcast for Unison at Pride Festival. Weather was bad on Saturday which means that the parade wasn't well attended, however sunday was much nicer, we managed to get some good material by the community stage, and it was lovely to be there during the day. There were some lovely acoustic acts which were unfortunately out volumed by annoying trance music coming from a tent nearby. I hope the organisers consider other genres of music for future events as I doubt all people who could attend the event enjoy the stereotypical gay trash.
Gay Symphony Orchestra - muted by Drum & Bass

 

Music I Have Heard this week #2

This week I heard a third recital at Birmingham conservatiore. This time by trio Hetti Price (cello) Amy Littlewood (Violin) & David Quigley (Piano). They played John Ireland Piano Trio in E Minor No.3 & Shostakovic Piano Trio in C Minor No.1 - Very emotional. 

Live Music I have Experienced this Week #1

This week has been all about recitals. I've seen two at Birmingham conservatiore -

Pop Culture is Digitally Annoying

I am wondering whether Nick Clegg shining is a part of the Obama factor, which is also a part of the x factor, whereby the current state of our pop culture constantly pushes us to find our next idol.